Ostrich Farm

The business of ostrich farming in the Philippines began in 1996. It was started by Lorenzo U. Limketkai, an engineer, and his son Heintje Limketkai. The Limketkais established their ostrich farming business and named it as the Philippine Ostrich and Crocodile Farms, Inc., becoming the first combined ostrich and crocodile farm in the country.

Their ostrich farm was opened in Barangay Malanang, Opol. They bought their first three pairs of breeding ostriches from Australia in July 1996. The first ostrich egg that was laid on August 30, 1996, but the hatching failed. After improvements were made to the facilities and to the egg-handling techniques, a live ostrich chick hatched for the first time in February 1997. Afterwards, the Limketkais bought two additional groups of breeding ostriches from Texas, United States. The business later opened its facilities “to the public for supervised tours”.

The first ostrich, as a product, was harvested and prepared as meat for fine dining restaurants on December 23, 1997, under the Big Bird Ostrich Meat brand. After that, thirty ostriches were routinely harvested on a monthly basis for supermarkets and deli shops.
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